10 scary statistics to use for your National School Walkout Day posters
In response to the devastating school shooting in Parkland, Florida, organizers behind the youth arm of the Women’s March are planning a national school walkout for Wednesday, March 14th. The event is being organized to protest the continued negligence of government officials with regard to common-sense gun control measures.
So many of our elected representatives have long tried to sidestep the issue of gun control, claiming there is nothing that can be done or trying to refocus the conversation by stigmatizing mental health issues — and students across the nation have decided enough is enough. The National School Walkout on March 14th will last for 17 minutes in honor of the 17 individuals who died in the Parkland shooting.
Are you planning to participate in the National School Walkout? Here are some very real statistics about gun violence in America to use for your protest signs or talking points.
1188 in 18 years
The Washington Post estimates that there have been at least 188 shootings on school and university campuses since 2000. In addition to the 2012 mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, “there have been shootings at elementary schools in seven other states” during that 18-year-period, The Post reported.
2300 million
That’s how many guns Americans are estimated to own, according to The Post. It averages out to roughly one gun per person.
Americans can legally buy an AR-15 assault weapon before they can legally buy a beer. Does anyone else think this is wrong?#AssaultWeaponsBan #GunControlNow #EnoughIsEnough
— Stop Trump 🍷 (@StopTrump2020) February 19, 2018
317,012
The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has calculated that an average of 17,012 children and teens are injured by guns every year in the U.S. Of those 17,012, roughly 2,647 will die from gun violence.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/965343358670356480
4It’s a gun issue, not a mental health issue
Each year, mass shootings by a person who could be considered mentally ill make up just 1% of all deaths from gun violence.
https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/965326022538391553
546
That’s the average number of children injured by gun violence every day in America, as calculated by the Brady Campaign.
A NATION THAT SHRUGS AT CHILDREN BEING GUNNED DOWN IN CHURCHES AND SCHOOLS IS NOT A CIVILIZED NATION. Our hearts ache for the parents and kids in #Parkland. This #gunviolence scourge must be treated as a national emergency.
— Peter Daou (@peterdaou) February 14, 2018
6We’re No. 1
And that’s not a good thing. It means the U.S. has the highest number of mass shootings of any nation in the world. false
7$54 million
According to The Los Angeles Times, the National Rifle Association (and its affiliate, the NRA Institute for Legislative Action) donated a whopping $54 million to political candidates during the 2016 election cycle. More than $30 million of that was spent in support of President Donald Trump.
I strongly believe that the #NRA should have to pay for every funeral caused by a mass shooting. I also don’t think I’m alone in this thought
— Irishrygirl (@irishrygirl) February 17, 2018
8Nine per second
That’s how fast the semi-automatic gun used in the 2017 Las Vegas shooting could fire bullets. Shooter Stephen Paddock modified a semi-automatic rifle to make it faster and more efficient, using a legal implement called a bump stock.
We want everyone to think about this.
What is wrong with this picture?
One of these products is banned in the US because of the risk to human lives.#GunControlNow #guncontrol #gunviolence
pic.twitter.com/rMbIIacZ0X— Indivisible Network 🇺🇦 (@IndivisibleNet) February 15, 2018
956,755
That’s how many people in the U.S. were killed by guns between 2014 and 2017. The number includes 2,710 children under the age of 12.
A message to all you Pro-lifers. #PrayforDouglas #GunControl #GunViolence #GunControlNow #Parkland pic.twitter.com/PiPeRWCBy5
— Derenic Byrd (@DerenicByrd) February 15, 2018
10One per month
In 2015 and 2016, at least one school shooting took place every month in the U.S., according to The Week.
"Change is coming. And it starts now, inspired by and led by the kids who are our hope for the future." https://t.co/PTI6xBpvcc
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) February 19, 2018
These statistics are a sobering reminder of the epidemic of gun violence in the U.S. And they’re exactly why National School Walkout Day is happening.
The 2018 National School Walkout will take place in several locations across the country. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
